Distributed printing system, sheet sorting method, and job management device

ABSTRACT

A distributed printing system includes: a job management device that divides a print job to generate divided jobs; image forming devices that execute the divided jobs to form an image on a sheet; and a sorting device that sorts sheets of a sheet bundle, wherein each of the image forming devices executes the divided jobs, and discharges a sheet bundle, the job management device includes a storage that stores information regarding the sheets constituting the sheet bundles, and the sorting device includes a sheet feeder on which the sheet bundles is settable, an instructor that instructs an operator on an arrangement order of the sheet bundles to be set on the sheet feeder, and a sheet discharger that sorts the sheets of the sheet bundles on the basis of operation information, and discharges a sheet bundle and a sheet bundle including remaining sheets to different sheet discharge trays.

The entire disclosure of Japanese patent Application No. 2017-096729,filed on May 15, 2017, is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND Technological Field

The present invention relates to a distributed printing system, a sheetsorting method, and a job management device.

Description of the Related Art

Distributed printing processing of dividing a print job into a pluralityof child jobs, distributing the child jobs to a plurality of imageforming devices, and causing the image forming devices to execute thedistributed child jobs is known.

In relation to the processing, JP 2008-310611 A discloses a techniquefor creating an output map indicating which image forming device hasprinted each page of the print job when performing the distributedprinting processing. According to the technique disclosed in JP2008-310611 A, a user can collect printed matters from the image formingdevices according to the output map and arrange the printed matters inorder of pages.

By the way, when the distributed printing processing of dividing andprocessing a print job into child jobs is performed for a plurality ofprint jobs, sheet bundles in which sheets of child jobs of differentprint jobs are mixed are discharged from the image forming devices.

In such a case, according to the technique in JP 2008-310611 A, aftercollecting the sheet bundles from the plurality of image formingdevices, the user can sort and rearrange the sheets of the same printjobs from the plurality of sheet bundles in which sheets of child jobsof different print jobs are mixed by reference to the output map.

However, when sorting and rearranging the sheets of the same print jobsfrom the plurality of sheet bundles in which sheets of child jobs ofdifferent print jobs are mixed, not only a large number of workman-hours is required but also misarrangement may occur, and thus thismethod is not favorable.

SUMMARY

The present invention has been made in view of the above-describedproblem. An object of the present invention is to provide a distributedprinting system, a sheet sorting method, and a job management device forenabling accurate and efficient sorting and rearrangement of a pluralityof sheet bundles in which sheets of child jobs of different print jobsare mixed into sheets of the same print jobs when performing distributedprinting processing of dividing a print job into a plurality of childjobs and processing the child jobs.

To achieve the abovementioned object, according to an aspect of thepresent invention, a distributed printing system reflecting one aspectof the present invention comprises: a job management device that dividesa print job to generate a plurality of divided jobs; a plurality ofimage forming devices that respectively executes the plurality ofdivided jobs to form an image on a sheet; and a sorting device thatsorts sheets of a sheet bundle, wherein each of the image formingdevices executes a plurality of the divided jobs respectivelycorresponding to a plurality of print jobs, and discharges a sheetbundle in which sheets of the plurality of divided jobs are mixed, thejob management device includes a storage that stores, about a pluralityof the sheet bundles respectively discharged from the plurality of imageforming devices, information regarding the sheets constituting the sheetbundles, and the sorting device includes a sheet feeder on which theplurality of sheet bundles is settable, an instructor that instructs anoperator on an arrangement order of the sheet bundles to be set on thesheet feeder, and a sheet discharger that sorts the sheets of theplurality of sheet bundles set on the sheet feeder on the basis ofoperation information obtained from the information stored in thestorage, and discharges a sheet bundle including sheets of one print joband a sheet bundle including remaining sheets to different sheetdischarge trays.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The advantages and features provided by one or more embodiments of theinvention will become more fully understood from the detaileddescription given hereinbelow and the appended drawings which are givenby way of illustration only, and thus are not intended as a definitionof the limits of the present invention:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of adistributed printing system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of acentral management server;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of anMFP;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of distributed printingcontrol processing;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for describing sheet bundles in which sheets ofchild jobs of different print jobs are mixed;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of sorting controlprocessing;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sorting operation ofthe MFP;

FIG. 8 is a diagram following FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating another example of the sortingoperation of the MFP.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, one or more embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the scopeof the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of adistributed printing system 1 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The distributed printing system 1 includes a centralmanagement server 10 and a plurality of multi-function peripherals(MFPs) 20 a, 20 b, and 20 c (hereinafter collectively referred to asMFPs 20). The central management server 10 and the plurality of MFPs 20a to 20 c are communicatively connected to one another via a network 30such as the Internet. The MFPs 20 a to 20 c are respectively installedin different printing places. Note that the types and the numbers ofdevices connected to the network 30 are not limited to the exampleillustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of thecentral management server 10. The central management server 10 includes,as a job management device, a controller 11, a storage 12, acommunicator 13, a display 14, and an inputter 15, and these parts areconnected with one another via a bus 16 for exchanging signals.

The controller 11 is a central processing unit (CPU), and performscontrol of the aforementioned parts and various types of arithmeticprocessing according to a program.

The storage 12 includes a read only memory (ROM) that stores variousprograms and data in advance, a random access memory (RAM) thattemporarily stores programs and data as a work area, a hard disk thatstores various programs and data, and the like.

The communicator 13 is an interface for communicating with otherdevices.

The display 14 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displaysvarious types of information.

The inputter 15 includes a pointing device such as a mouse and akeyboard and is used for various inputs.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of theMFP 20 a. Since the MFPs 20 a to 20 c have similar configurations to oneanother, the MFP 20 a will be described below as a representative.

The MFP 20 a includes, as an image forming device, a controller 21, astorage 22, a communicator 23, an operation panel 24, a sheet feeder 25,an image former 26, an image reader 27, and a sheet discharger 28, andthese parts are connected with one another via a bus 29 for exchangingsignals. Note that description of a part having a similar function tothe above-described part of the central management server 10, among theabove-described parts of the MFP 20 a, is omitted.

The operation panel 24 includes a touch panel, a numeric keypad, a startbutton, a stop button, and the like, and is used for display of varioustypes of information and input of various instructions.

The sheet feeder 25 accommodates sheets to be used for printing. Thesheet feeder 25 has a plurality of sheet feed trays and sends sheetsstored in the sheet feed tray sheet by sheet to the image former 26.

The image former 26 forms an image based on image data on a sheet, usinga known image forming process such as an electrophotographic processincluding steps of charging, exposure, development, transfer, andfixing.

The image reader 27 reads an image formed on a sheet to obtain imagedata. The image reader 27 applies light of a light source such as afluorescent lamp to a sheet, photoelectrically converts reflection lightof the light by an imaging device such as a charge coupled device (CCD)image sensor, and generates image data from an electrical signal of thephotoelectric conversion.

The sheet discharger 28 discharges the sheet on which the image isformed by the image former 26. The sheet discharger 28 includes aplurality of sheet discharge trays, and can sort and discharge thesheets to the different sheet discharge trays.

The MFP 20 a of the present embodiment is also used as a sorting devicethat sorts sheets of a sheet bundle. A program for sorting the sheets ofpages of the sheet bundle set in the sheet feeder 25 and discharging thesheet to a predetermined sheet discharge tray, a program for inserting acover sheet between sheets of specific pages, and the like are stored inthe storage 22 of the MFP 20 a. Further, the operation panel 24 of theMFP 20 a functions as an instructor that instructs an operator on anarrangement order of sheet bundles to be set in the sheet feeder 25, anda receiver that receives an operation for determining a configuration ofthe sheet bundle.

Meanwhile, the controller 11 of the central management server 10functions as first and second generators by executing correspondingprograms. The first generator generates instruction information forinstructing the operator on the arrangement order of the sheet bundlesto be set in the sheet feeder 25 of the MFP 20 a. The second generatorgenerates operation information of the MFP 20 a from sheet informationof the sheet bundle stored in the storage 12. Specific processingcontents of the generators will be described below.

Note that the central management server 10 and the MFPs 20 a to 20 c mayinclude constituent parts other than the above-described constituentparts, or may not include a part of the constituent parts.

In the distributed printing system 1 configured as described above,distributed printing processing in which one print job is divided into aplurality of child jobs, and the plurality of MFPs 20 a to 20 c executesthe child jobs is performed. Then, when such distributed printingprocessing is performed for a plurality of print jobs, sheet bundles inwhich sheets of child jobs of the different print jobs are mixed areoutput from the MFPs 20 a to 20 c. In the distributed printing system 1of the present embodiment, the operator collects the sheet bundles fromthe MFPs 20 a to 20 c. Then, the operator sets the plurality ofcollected sheet bundles in the sheet feeder 25 of one MFP 20 a, and theMFP 20 a sorts the sheets of the plurality of sheet bundles. With thesorting, the plurality of sheet bundles in which sheets of child jobs ofdifferent print jobs are mixed is rearranged into sheet bundles of therespective print job. Hereinafter, the operation of the distributedprinting system 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4to 9.

First, distributed printing processing of dividing one print job into aplurality of child jobs will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and5.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of distributed printingcontrol processing executed by the central management server 10. Notethat the algorithm illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 4 is stored as aprogram in the storage 12 of the central management server 10, and isexecuted by the controller 11.

First, the central management server 10 receives a print job from aterminal device (not illustrated) on the network 30 (step S101).

Next, the central management server 10 divides the print job in units ofcopies or pages to generate a plurality of child jobs (step S102).

Next, the central management server 10 distributes the child job to oneMFP 20 on the network 30 in association with identification informationof the MFP 20 (step S103).

Next, the central management server 10 determines whether a child jobnot yet distributed to the MFP 20 remains (step S104). When it isdetermined that no child job remains (step S104: NO), the centralmanagement server 10 terminates the processing.

On the other hand, when it is determined that a child job remains (stepS104: YES), the central management server 10 returns to the processingin step S103. Until no child job remains, the central management server10 repeats the processing in steps S103 and S104.

As described above, according to the processing of the flowchartillustrated in FIG. 4, when the central management server 10 receives aprint job, the print job is divided into a plurality of child jobs, andthe child jobs are distributed to the plurality of MFPs 20.

Then, when the processing of the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 4 isperformed for a plurality of print jobs, the MFPs 20 respectivelyexecute child jobs of the plurality of print jobs. As a result, sheetbundles 100, 200, and 300 (see FIG. 5) in which sheets of the child jobsof the different print jobs are mixed are discharged to the sheetdischargers 28 of the MFPs 20.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for describing sheet bundles 100 to 300 in whichsheets of child jobs of different print jobs are mixed. Note that, inFIG. 5, a case in which the central management server 10 performs thedistributed printing processing for three print jobs including a printjob A, a print job B, and a print job C will be described as an example.

In the case of performing the distributed printing processing, thecentral management server 10 divides a print job A into three child jobsincluding an A child job 1, an A child job 2, and an A child job 3 inorder of pages, for example. Similarly, the central management server 10divides a print job B into three child jobs including a B child job 1, aB child job 2, and a B child job 3, and divides a print job C into threechild jobs including a C child job 1, a C child job 2, and a C child job3.

Next, the central management server 10 allocates the A child job 1, theB child job 2, and the C child job 1 to the MFP 20 a, for example.Further, the central management server 10 allocates the B child job 3,the C child job 2, and the A child job 3 to the MFP 20 b, and allocatesthe C child job 3, the A child job 2, and the B child job 1 to the MFP20 c.

As a result, the MFP 20 a executes the A child job 1, the B child job 2,and the C child job 1 in order, and a sheet bundle 100 in which the Achild job 1, the B child job 2, and the C child job 1 are stacked inorder is discharged to the sheet discharger 28 of the MFP 20 a.Similarly, the MFP 20 b executes the B child job 3, the C child job 2,and the A child job 3 in order, and a sheet bundle 200 in which the Bchild job 3, the C child job 2, and the A child job 3 are stacked inorder is discharged to the sheet discharger 28 of the MFP 20 b. The MFP20 c executes the C child job 3, the A child job 2, and the B child job1 in order, and a sheet bundle 300 in which the C child job 3, the Achild job 2, and the B child job 1 are stacked in order is discharged tothe sheet discharger 28 of the MFP 20 c.

As described above, when the distributed printing processing of dividingand processing a print job into child jobs is performed for theplurality of print jobs, the sheet bundles 100 to 300 in which sheets ofchild jobs of the different print jobs are mixed are discharged to thesheet dischargers 28 of the MFPs 20.

The sheet bundles 100 to 300 discharged to the sheet dischargers 28 ofthe MFPs 20 a to 20 c are collected by the operator. Prior to thecollection, cover sheets 110, 210, and 310 are stacked on tops of thesheet bundles 100 to 300.

In the present embodiment, when collecting the sheet bundle 100 from theMFP 20 a, for example, the operator presses a collection buttondisplayed on the operation panel 24 of the MFP 20 a. When the collectionbutton is pressed, the MFP 20 a requests the central management server10 to issue a management number of the sheet bundle. When issuance ofthe management number is requested, the central management server 10transmits image data of an image illustrating the management number ofthe sheet bundle to the MFP 20 a, assuming that the child jobs until therequest is given are included in the sheet bundle. The MFP 20 a formsthe image based on the image data on a sheet to creates the cover sheet110 on which the management number is printed, and outputs the coversheet 110 onto the sheet bundle 100. Similarly, the MFP 20 b forms animage illustrating the management number on a sheet to creates the coversheet 210 on which the management number is printed, and outputs thecover sheet 210 onto the sheet bundle 200. The MFP 20 c forms an imageillustrating the management number on a sheet to creates the cover sheet310 on which the management number is printed, and outputs the coversheet 310 onto the sheet bundle 300. The central management server 10stores the management number transmitted to the MFP 20 in the storage 12in association with the child jobs distributed to each MFP 20. As aresult, in the storage 12 of the central management server 10, sheetinformation indicating the configuration of the sheet bundle such aswhich child job is included in which position in the sheet bundle isstored in association with the management number of the sheet bundle.

The operator collects the sheet bundles 100 to 300 on which the coversheets 110 to 310 are stacked from the MFPs 20 a to 20 c, and sets thecollected sheet bundles 100 to 300 on the sheet feed tray of one MFP 20a. When the sheet bundles 100 to 300 are set, the MFP 20 a sorts thesheets according to the operation information acquired from the centralmanagement server 10, and extracts a sheet bundle of one print job fromthe sheet bundles 100 to 300 in which the sheets of the child jobs ofthe three print jobs are mixed. Hereinafter, sorting processing ofextracting a sheet bundle of one print job from sheet bundles in whichsheets of child jobs of different print jobs are mixed will be describedin detail with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of sorting controlprocessing executed by the central management server 10. Note that thealgorithm illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is stored as a programin the storage 12 of the central management server 10, and is executedby the controller 11.

First, the central management server 10 specifies one print job to beextracted from a plurality of print jobs (step S201).

Next, the central management server 10 determines a stacking order ofthe sheet bundles 100 to 300 to be set on one sheet feed tray of the MFP20 a on the basis of the sheet information of the sheet bundles, andgenerates instruction information for instructing the operator on thestacking order (step S202).

Next, the central management server 10 generates operation informationfor the MFP 20 a to discharge the sheets of the print job to beextracted to a sheet discharge tray 1 and to discharge the remainingsheets to a sheet discharge tray 2 on the basis of the sheet informationof the sheet bundles (step S203).

Next, when sorting the sheets on the basis of the sheet information ofthe sheet bundles, the central management server 10 determines whetherthere is a cover sheet for which a corresponding sheet bundle is gone(step S204).

When it is determined that there is a cover sheet for which acorresponding sheet bundle is gone (step

S204: YES), the central management server 10 generates operationinformation for the MFP 20 a to discharge the cover sheet for which acorresponding sheet bundle is gone to a sheet discharge tray 3 (stepS205).

On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no cover sheetfor which a corresponding sheet bundle is gone (step S204: NO), whensorting the sheets on the basis of the sheet information of the sheetbundles, the central management server 10 determines whether there is achild job that can be combined if there is no cover sheet in the sortedsheet bundle (step S206).

When it is determined that there is no child job that can be combined(step S206: NO), the central management server 10 proceeds to theprocessing in step S209.

On the other hand, when it is determined that there is a child job thatcan be combined (step S206: YES), the central management server 10generates operation information for the MFP 20 a to discharge the coversheet existing between the combinable child jobs to the sheet dischargetray 3 (step S207).

Next, the central management server 10 generates operation informationfor the MFP 20 a to form and stack a new cover sheet on a new sheetbundle (step S208).

Then, the central management server 10 transmits the generatedinstruction information and operation information to the MFP 20 a (stepS209), and terminates the processing.

As described above, according to the processing of the flowchartillustrated in FIG. 6, first, one print job to be extracted is specifiedfrom a plurality of print jobs. Next, the stacking order of the sheetbundles 100 to 300 to be set on the sheet feed tray of the MFP 20 a isdetermined on the basis of the sheet information of the sheet bundles100 to 300 stored in the storage 12, and the instruction information forinstructing the operator on the stacking order is generated. Then, theoperation information of the MFP 20 a for sorting the sheets of oneprint job from the plurality of sheet bundles 100 to 300 is generated onthe basis of the sheet information of the sheet bundles 100 to 300, andthe operation information is transmitted together with the instructioninformation to the MFP 20 a. The operation information includesoperation information for discarding unnecessary cover sheets andoperation information for combining child jobs.

The MFP 20 a displays the instruction information on the operation panel24 of the MFP 20 a, and instructs the order of the sheet bundles to bestacked on the sheet feed tray of the MFP 20 a. The operator sets theplurality of sheet bundles on the sheet feed tray of the MFP 20 a whilereferring to the management numbers printed on the cover sheets of thesheet bundles according to the instruction information displayed on theoperation panel 24 of the MFP 20 a. When the sheet bundles are set onthe sheet feed tray, the MFP 20 a sorts the sheets according to theoperation information. With the sorting, the sheet bundle of one printjob is extracted from the sheet bundles in which the sheets of the childjobs of the different print jobs are mixed.

Next, the sorting operation of the MFP 20 a will be more specificallydescribed with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIGS. 7 and 8 are diagramsillustrating examples of the sorting operation by the MFP 20 a.

First, the sorting operation to extract the sheet bundle of the printjob A from the sheet bundles 100 to 300 illustrated in FIG. 5 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 7.

In the case of extracting the sheet bundle of the print job A, the threesheet bundles are stacked on the sheet feed tray of the MFP 20 a inorder of the sheet bundle 100, the sheet bundle 300, and the sheetbundle 200. The MFP 20 a conveys the sheets inside the MFP 20 a in orderfrom the sheet of the A child job 1, the sheet being located on thebottom of the sheet bundle 100, and discharges the sheet to the sheetdischarge tray 1 or the sheet discharge tray 2 while switching aconveyance path on the basis of the operation information. Specifically,the MFP 20 a conveys the sheets of the sheet bundles stacked on thesheet feed tray sheet by sheet from the bottom, and discharges thesheets of the A child job 1, the A child job 2, and the A child job 3 tothe sheet discharge tray 1. Meanwhile, the MFP 20 a discharges thesheets other than the sheets of the A child job 1, the A child job 2,and the A child job 3 to the sheet discharge tray 2.

As a result, a sheet bundle 400 of the print job A is discharged facedown on the sheet discharge tray 1. Meanwhile, a sheet bundle 100 a, asheet bundle 300 a, and a sheet bundle 200 a are discharged in order onthe sheet discharge tray 2. The sheet bundle 100 a is a sheet bundleobtained by removing the sheet of the A child job 1 from the sheetbundle 100 before sorting, and the cover sheet 110 is stacked on thetop. The sheet bundle 300 a is a sheet bundle obtained by removing thesheet of the A child job 2 from the sheet bundle 300 before sorting, andthe cover sheet 310 is stacked on the top. The sheet bundle 200 a is asheet bundle obtained by removing the sheet of the A child job 3 fromthe sheet bundle 200 before sorting, and the cover sheet 210 is stackedon the top. From the standpoint of discriminating the sheet bundles 100a to 300 a, the three sheet bundles 100 a to 300 a are discharged withshifted sheet discharge positions onto the sheet discharge tray 2.

As described above, according to the sorting operation illustrated inFIG. 7, the sheet bundle 400 of the print job A is extracted from thesheet bundles 100 to 300 in which the sheets of the child jobs of theprint job A, the print job B, and the print job C are mixed.

Next, the sorting operation to extract the sheet bundle of the print jobB from the sheet bundles 100 a to 300 a illustrated in FIG. 7 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 8.

After the sheet bundle 400 of the print job A is extracted, the operatortakes out the remaining sheet bundles 100 a to 300 a from the sheetdischarge tray 2 of the MFP 20 a. Then, the operator sets the sheetbundles 100 a to 300 a on the sheet feed tray of the MFP 20 a accordingto the instruction information displayed on the operation panel 24 ofthe MFP 20 a.

In the case of extracting the sheet bundle of the print job B, the threesheet bundles are stacked on the sheet feed tray of the MFP 20 a inorder of the sheet bundle 300 a, the sheet bundle 100 a, and the sheetbundle 200 a. The MFP 20 a conveys the sheets inside the MFP 20 a inorder from the sheet of the C child job 3, the sheet being located onthe bottom of the sheet bundle 300 a, and discharges the sheet to thesheet discharge tray 1 or the sheet discharge tray 2 while switching theconveyance path on the basis of the operation information. Specifically,the MFP 20 a conveys the sheets of the sheet bundles stacked on thesheet feed tray sheet by sheet from the bottom, and discharges thesheets of the B child job 1, the B child job 2, and the B child job 3 tothe sheet discharge tray 1. Meanwhile, the MFP 20 a discharges thesheets other than the sheets of the B child job 1, the B child job 2,and the B child job 3 to the sheet discharge tray 2.

As a result, a sheet bundle 500 of the print job B is discharged on thesheet discharge tray 1. Meanwhile, a sheet bundle 300 b, a sheet bundle100 b, and a sheet bundle 200 b are discharged in order on the sheetdischarge tray 2. The sheet bundle 300 b is a sheet bundle obtained byremoving the sheet of the B child job 1 from the sheet bundle 300 abefore sorting, and the cover sheet 310 is stacked on the top. The sheetbundle 100 b is a sheet bundle obtained by removing the sheet of the Bchild job 2 from the sheet bundle 100 a before sorting, and the coversheet 110 is stacked on the top. The sheet bundle 200 b is a sheetbundle obtained by removing the sheet of the B child job 3 from thesheet bundle 200 a before sorting, and the cover sheet 210 is stacked onthe top. From the standpoint of discriminating the sheet bundles 100 bto 300 b, the three sheet bundles 100 b to 300 b are discharged withshifted sheet discharge positions onto the sheet discharge tray 2.

As described above, according to the sorting operation illustrated inFIG. 8, the sheet bundle 500 of the print job B is extracted from thesheet bundles 100 a to 300 a in which the sheets of the child jobs ofthe print job B and the print job C are mixed. Then, when a similarsorting operation is performed for the sorted sheet bundles 100 b to 300b, the cover sheets 110 to 310 for which the corresponding sheet bundlesare gone are discarded, and the sheet bundle of the print job C isextracted. As a result, the sheet bundles of the respective print jobcan be obtained from the three sheet bundles 100 to 300 in which thesheets of the three print jobs are mixed.

As described above, according to the distributed printing system 1 ofthe present embodiment, the sheet bundles of the respective print jobare acquired when the operator repeatedly sets sheet bundles in the MFP20 a while changing the order of the sheet bundles according to themanagement numbers printed on the cover sheets of the sheet bundles.

According to such a configuration, the operator does not need to graspthe sheet configurations of the sheet bundles and can complete the workin a shorter time than a case where the operator manually sorts thesheets.

In addition, a mistake in rearranging the sheets does not occur, unlikethe case where the operator manually sorts the sheets. That is, aplurality of sheet bundles in which child jobs of different print jobsare mixed can be accurately and efficiently sorted and rearranged intosheets of the same print jobs.

Next, an operation to combine child jobs will be described withreference to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating another example ofthe sorting operation.

In FIG. 9, the sheet bundle 100, the sheet bundle 300, and the sheetbundle 200 are stacked in order on the sheet feed tray of the MFP 20 a.The sheet bundle 100 is configured such that the sheets of the A childjob 1, the B child job 1, and the C child job 1 are stacked in order.The sheet bundle 300 is configured such that the sheets of the C childjob 3, the A child job 2, and the B child job 2 are stacked in order.The sheet bundle 200 is configured such that the sheets of the B childjob 3, the C child job 2, and the A child job 3 are stacked in order.The cover sheets 110 to 310 are stacked on tops of the sheet bundles 100to 300. The MFP 20 a discharges the sheets of the print job A to thesheet discharge tray 1 and discharges the remaining sheets to the sheetdischarge tray 2 according to the operation information obtained fromthe sheet information of the sheet bundles 100 to 300.

Here, focusing on the boundary between the sheet bundle 200 and thesheet bundle 300, the B child job 3 located on the bottom of the sheetbundle 200 and the B child job 2 located on the bottom of the sheetbundle 300 are successive child jobs of the same print job B. In thiscase, when sorting the sheets, the MFP 20 a discharges a sheet 320 ofthe B child job 2 to the sheet discharge tray 2, and then discharges anddiscards the cover sheet 310 to the sheet discharge tray 3. Thereafter,the MFP 20 a discharges a sheet 220 of the B child job 3 to the sheetdischarge tray 2, thereby incorporating the sheet 320 of the B child job2 into the sheet bundle 200 a. Meanwhile, as for the sheet bundle 300 afrom which the sheet 320 of the B child job 2 has been removed, the MFP20 a forms and output a new cover sheet 310 a onto the sheet bundle 300a. A management number is printed on the new cover sheet 310 a, and themanagement number is registered in the central management server 10.

As described above, according to the sorting operation illustrated inFIG. 9, when the sheet bundle 400 of the print job A is extracted fromthe sheet bundles 100 to 300 in which the sheets of the child jobs ofthe three print jobs are mixed, the sheet 320 of the B child job 2 ofthe sheet bundle 300 a is incorporated into the sheet bundle 200 a.According to such a configuration, when extracting the sheet bundle ofthe print job B thereafter, for example, the sheet bundle 300 a does notneed to be set on the sheet feed tray of the MFP 20 a, and the number ofwork man-hours is reduced.

Meanwhile, when extracting the sheet bundle of the print job Cthereafter, for example, the sheet bundle corresponding to the coversheet 310 a is gone. Therefore, in the sorting operation, the coversheet 310 a is discharged to the sheet discharge tray 3 and discarded.

(Modification 1)

When an operator presses a collection button displayed on an operationpanel 24 when collecting sheet bundles from MFPs 20, the MFP 20 maytransmit sheet information of the sheet bundle discharged to a sheetdischarge tray of the MFP 20 to a central management server 10.According to such a configuration, the central management server 10 canaccurately recognize the sheet information of the sheet bundledischarged onto the sheet discharge tray of the MFP 20 and can generateoperation information of the MFP 20.

(Modification 2)

When sorting sheets by an MFP 20 a, an image reader 27 of the MFP 20 amay read an image of a sheet. For example, the MFP 20 a reads the imageof the sheet conveyed inside the MFP 20 a by the image reader 27, and ina case where the image of the sheet is different from a planned image,the MFP 20 a determines that the sheet bundle is erroneously set andstops a sorting operation. Alternatively, in a case where the image readby the image reader 27 is different from the planned image, the MFP 20 aperforms processing of shifting a sheet discharge position of the sheetor inserting an insertion sheet between the sheets to enable an operatorto recognize a point where arrangement has an error.

The present invention is not limited only to the above-describedembodiments, and can be modified in various manners within the scope ofthe claims.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case of setting aplurality of sheet bundles on one sheet feed tray of the MFP 20 a in astacked manner in sorting sheets has been described as an example.However, the plurality of sheet bundles may be set on the same number ofsheet feed trays bundle by bundle. In this case, the central managementserver 10 generates instruction information for instructing a sheetbundle to be set on each paper feed tray, and the MFP 20 a displays theinstruction information on the operation panel 24 to instruct theoperator on the sheet bundle to be set to each sheet feed tray.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the management number hasbeen printed on the sheet having the same size as the sheets thatconstituting the sheet bundle and has been used as the cover sheet.However, from the standpoint of making a sheet bundle more easilydistinguishable, identification information such as a management numbermay be printed on a sheet slightly larger than the sheet of the sheetbundle or a tab sheet (index sheet) and output the sheet as a coversheet.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, when the operator hadpressed the collection button displayed on the operation panel 24 of theMFP 20, the MFP 20 has formed the cover sheet and the cover sheet hasbeen output onto the sheet bundle. However, the trigger to stack thecover sheet on the sheet bundle is not limited to when the collectionbutton is pressed. For example, the central management server 10 maytransmit image data or the like of a management number to the MFP 20 sothat the cover sheet is output at the point of time when the MFP 20 hascompleted printing of a predetermined child job.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the MFP 20 has formed theimage indicating the management number on one sheet, and the sheet onwhich the management number is printed has been stacked on the sheetbundle as the cover sheet. However, in a case where an inserter such asa post inserter is provided in the

MFP 20, a sheet may be stacked on a sheet bundle by setting a sheet usedas a cover sheet to the inserter and inserting the sheet from theinserter. In this case, identification information such as a managementnumber is printed in advance on the sheet set in the inserter, and theidentification information is registered in advance in the centralmanagement server 10.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, when combining the childjobs, the sheet of one child job is incorporated into the sheet bundleof the other child job, and the number of sheet bundles is maintained.However, when combining child jobs, a sheet bundle of sheets of combinedtwo child jobs may be used as a new sheet bundle, and a new cover sheetmay be stacked on the new sheet bundle.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the cover sheet has beenstacked on the top of the sheet bundle discharged from the MFP 20.However, a cover sheet does not need to be stacked on a sheet bundle. Inthis case, an uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle functions as a coversheet. Note that a management number may be displayed on the operationpanel 24 of the MFP 20, and the operator may paste a tag or the like onwhich the management number has been copied to the sheet bundle.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the MFP 20 a as an imageforming device has been used as the sorting device that sorts sheets.However, the MFP 20 a may not serve as the sorting device, and adedicated sorting device may be separately used from the MFP 20 a. Inthe case of using the MFP 20 a as the sorting device, if possible, afixer is spaced apart to prevent heating of sheets.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the central managementserver 10 has generated the instruction information for instructing theoperator on the stacking order of the sheet bundles and the operationinformation of the MFP 20 a on the basis of the sheet information of thesheet bundles. However, the MFP 20 a may acquire the paper informationfrom the central management server 10, and the controller 21 of the MFP20 a may generate the above-described instruction information andoperation information on the basis of the acquired sheet information.

The means and methods for performing the various types of processing inthe distributed printing system according to the above embodiments canbe realized by either a dedicated hardware circuit or a programmedcomputer. The above-described program may be provided with acomputer-readable recording medium such as a compact disc read onlymemory (CD-ROM), or may be provided by an online via a network such asthe Internet. In this case, the program recorded on thecomputer-readable recording medium is usually transferred and stored toa storage such as a hard disk. Further, the above-described program maybe provided as standalone application software, or may be incorporatedinto software of a device of the distributed printing system as onefunction of the distributed printing system.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described andillustrated in detail, the disclosed embodiments are made for purposesof illustration and example only and not limitation. The scope of thepresent invention should be interpreted by terms of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A distributed printing system comprising: a jobmanagement device that divides a print job to generate a plurality ofdivided jobs; a plurality of image forming devices that respectivelyexecutes the plurality of divided jobs to form an image on a sheet; anda sorting device that sorts sheets of a sheet bundle, wherein each ofthe image forming devices executes a plurality of the divided jobsrespectively corresponding to a plurality of print jobs, and dischargesa sheet bundle in which sheets of the plurality of divided jobs aremixed, the job management device includes a storage that stores, about aplurality of the sheet bundles respectively discharged from theplurality of image forming devices, information regarding the sheetsconstituting the sheet bundles, and the sorting device includes a sheetfeeder on which the plurality of sheet bundles is settable, aninstructor that instructs an operator on an arrangement order of thesheet bundles to be set on the sheet feeder, and a sheet discharger thatsorts the sheets of the plurality of sheet bundles set on the sheetfeeder on the basis of operation information obtained from theinformation stored in the storage, and discharges a sheet bundleincluding sheets of one print job and a sheet bundle including remainingsheets to different sheet discharge trays.
 2. The distributed printingsystem according to claim 1, wherein the sheet bundle including theremaining sheets includes a plurality of sheet bundles respectivelyobtained by removing the sheets of the one print job from the pluralityof sheet bundles set on the sheet feeder, and the sheet dischargerdischarges the plurality of sheet bundles including the remaining sheetsin a distinguishable manner from each other.
 3. The distributed printingsystem according to claim 1, wherein in a case where the sheet feederincludes sheet feed trays of a number equal to or larger than theplurality of sheet bundles, the instructor instructs the operator on asheet bundle to be set on each of the sheet feed trays, and in a casewhere the sheet feeder includes sheet feed trays of a number less thanthe plurality of sheet bundles, the instructor instructs the operator ona sheet feed tray on which the sheet bundles are to be set and an orderof the sheet bundles to be loaded on the sheet feed tray.
 4. Thedistributed printing system according to claim 1, wherein the imageforming device further includes an image former that forms an image on asheet, and forms an image indicating identification information foridentifying the sheet bundle on a sheet, and outputs the sheet as acover sheet of the sheet bundle.
 5. The distributed printing systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the image forming device further includesan inserter that inserts a predetermined sheet as a cover sheet of thesheet bundle.
 6. The distributed printing system according to claim 4,wherein the sorting device discards the cover sheet when a sheet bundlecorresponding to the cover sheet is gone by performing sorting.
 7. Thedistributed printing system according to claim 1, wherein the sheetbundle including the remaining sheets includes a plurality of sheetbundles respectively obtained by removing the sheets of the one printjob from the plurality of sheet bundles set on the sheet feeder, and theplurality of sheet bundles including the remaining sheets is stacked anddischarged onto one sheet discharge tray, and in a case where sheetsadjacent between the sheet bundles discharge on the sheet discharge trayare sheets of successive divided jobs of a same print job, the sheetdischarger includes the sheet of one divided job of the successivedivided jobs to the sheet bundle of the sheet of the other divided joband discharges the sheet bundle, or discharges the sheets of thesuccessive divided jobs as a new sheet bundle.
 8. The distributedprinting system according to claim 7, wherein, in a case where a coversheet is stacked on the plurality of sheet bundles, the sorting devicediscards a cover sheet existing between the successive divided jobs, andstacks a new cover sheet on a sheet bundle to be newly formed.
 9. Thedistributed printing system according to claim 8, wherein the sortingdevice is the image forming device, and forms an image indicatingidentification information for identifying the sheet bundle on a sheet,and outputs the sheet as the new cover sheet.
 10. The distributedprinting system according to claim 8, wherein the sorting device furtherincludes an inserter that inserts a predetermined sheet as the new coversheet.
 11. The distributed printing system according to claim 5, whereinan image indicating identification information for identifying the sheetbundle is formed on the predetermined sheet, and the identificationinformation is registered in the job management device.
 12. Thedistributed printing system according to claim 1, wherein the imageforming device further includes a communicator that transmitsinformation regarding the sheets constituting the sheet bundledischarged on the sheet discharge tray of the image forming device tothe job management device.
 13. The distributed printing system accordingto claim 12, wherein the image forming device further includes areceiver that receives an operation to determine a configuration of asheet bundle, and when the operation is received, the communicatortransmits the information regarding the sheets constituting the sheetbundle to the job management device.
 14. The distributed printing systemaccording to claim 13, wherein, when the operation is received, theimage forming device forms an image indicating identificationinformation for identifying the sheet bundle on a sheet, and outputs thesheet as a cover sheet of the sheet bundle.
 15. The distributed printingsystem according to claim 4, wherein the image forming device forms theimage on a sheet having a different size from the sheet of the sheetbundle or a tab sheet, and outputs the sheet or the tab sheet as thecover sheet.
 16. The distributed printing system according to claim 1,wherein the sorting device further includes an image reader that readsan image formed on the sheet, and a hardware processor that stops asorting operation when a sheet bundle set on the sheet feeder has beenrecognized not to be correct from a read result by the image reader. 17.The distributed printing system according to claim 16, wherein thesorting device continues the sorting operation even when the sheetbundle set on the sheet feeder has been recognized not to be correct,and performs processing of changing a sheet discharge position of thesheet to be discharged on the sheet discharge tray or processing ofinserting a predetermined sheet to make a place where arrangement ofsheets of a sheet bundle discharged on the sheet discharge tray has anerror recognizable.
 18. A sheet sorting method executed in a distributedprinting system including a job management device that divides a printjob to generate a plurality of divided jobs, a plurality of imageforming devices that respectively executes the plurality of divided jobsto form an image on a sheet, and a sorting device that sorts sheets of asheet bundle, the sheet sorting method comprising: (a) executing aplurality of the divided jobs respectively corresponding to a pluralityof print jobs, and discharging a sheet bundle in which sheets of theplurality of divided jobs are mixed, by each of the image formingdevices; (b) storing, about a plurality of the sheet bundlesrespectively discharged from the plurality of image forming devices,information regarding the sheets constituting the sheet bundles in astorage, by the job management device; (c) instructing an operator on anarrangement order of the sheet bundles to be set on the sheet feeder, bythe sorting device; and (d) sorting the sheets of the plurality of sheetbundles set on the sheet feeder on the basis of operation informationobtained from the information stored in the storage, and discharging asheet bundle including sheets of one print job and a sheet bundleincluding remaining sheets to different sheet discharge trays, by thesorting device.
 19. A job management device used in a distributedprinting system including the job management device that divides a printjob to generate a plurality of divided jobs, a plurality of imageforming devices that respectively executes the plurality of divided jobsto form an image on a sheet, and a sorting device that sorts sheets of asheet bundle, wherein each of the image forming devices executes aplurality of the divided jobs respectively corresponding to a pluralityof print jobs, and discharges a sheet bundle in which sheets of theplurality of divided jobs are mixed, the job management device includesa storage that stores, about a plurality of the sheet bundlesrespectively discharged from the plurality of image forming devices,information regarding the sheets constituting the sheet bundles, ahardware processor that: generates instruction information forinstructing an operator on an arrangement order of the sheet bundles tobe set on a sheet feeder of the sorting device; and generates operationinformation of the sorting device from the information stored in thestorage so that the sorting device sorts the sheets of the plurality ofsheet bundles set on the sheet feeder, and discharges a sheet bundleincluding sheets of one print job and a sheet bundle including remainingsheets to different sheet discharge trays, and a communicator thattransmits the instruction information and the operation information tothe sorting device.